Street-car.



F. HEDLEY r J. S. DOYLE.

STREET CAR.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 1. 1912 l @35,255 Patented Jau. 27, 1914.

P. HEDLEY & J. S. DOYLE.

STREET GAR.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I, m12.

1,085,255 Patented Jau 27, 1914.

SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Fig.

F. HBDLEY L J. S. DYLE. STREET GAR.

APPLICATION FILED MAR` 1, mi

l G85 255, Patented Jan. 27, 1914. 5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

F. HEDLEY & J. S. DYLE.

STREET CAP..

APPLICATION FILED MAR.1.191Z. 1,085,255. Patented t12111.27, 1914.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

P. HEDLEY & J. S. DOYLE. STREET GAR.

APPLICATION FILED M111 1912.

1,085,255. Patented Jan. 27, 1914 5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

:r u 41 1"' L Vf 1' @willi/wwwa: 3111 11T@ z5 ving is a specification.

lates to the construction of the trucks, and

NTED STATES PATENT FFGE,

FRANK HEDLEY, 0F YONKERS, .AND JAMES S. DOYLE, OF MOUNT VERNON, NEWYORK.

STREET-CAR.

Application led March 1,

To all zc/tom, 'it may concern Be it known that we, FRANK HEDLEY an'dJAMES S. Dom, both citizens of the United States, residing,respectively, at Yonkers and Mount Vernon, in the county of lVestchesterand State of New York, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Street-Cars, of which the follow- This invention relatesto street cars of a motor driven type, and has for its main object togreatly increase the convenience and comfort of passengers in getting onand ott from cars by providing a substantially continuous low levelfloor within a single stepping distance above the street level or top ofrail. Electric cars of this type, as now in common use, are usuallyprovided with motor trucks having wheels about thirty inches indiameter, and the floor level is raised to clear the tops of thewheels,thereby necessitating at least two, and sometimes three high steps fromthe street level to th-e floor ofthe car. This has made it veryditlicult for passengers, especially elderly persons, to readily get onand off from cars, and furthermore, these high steps have contributed anelement of dangery since accidents are very liable to occur, and oftendo happen, due to passengers slipping or falling upon the steps.

By means of our improvement, these diiculties are avoided, as thedangerous steps are dispensed with, and passengers may readily stepdirectly from the street surface into the carupon the continuous lowlevel floor, and wit-hout climbing any vfurther steps, pass to any ofthe seats in the car.

Another feature of our improvement reto the arrangement of car seats,whereby the continuous low level ioor may be extended over said trucks,and clearance space for the swiveling movement of the truck wheels beprovided beneath the car seats, so that the seating capacity is notmaterially reduced. nor indeed diminished at all, as compared with thepresent standard construction ot street cars of the correspondinglengths.

Another feature of our improvement relates to the center side doorconstruction, in connection with the continuous low level floor wherebypassengers may, with a single Specification of Letters Iatent.

Patented Jan. 27, 1914:.

1912. Serial No. 680,828.

step, pass directly from the street into the middle portion of the Car.

Another feature relates to the provision oi the motormans cab located atthe end of the car over the truck motors, and at a higher level than thelow level floor.

These and other features will hereinafter more fully appear from thefollowing description of one form of street car, showing our invention.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure l. is a side elevation of one halfof a street car embodyingl our improvement; Fig. 2, a verticallongitudinal section of the same: Fig. 3, a horizontal section showingone arrangement of seats for providing clearance space beneath the samefor theV swiveling movement of the truck, the truck being indicated indotted lines and the position of the wheels in the swiveling actionbeing indicated in dotted and dash lines; Fie. 4, a transverse section,one half being ta en on the line 4 4, and the other half on the lineta-4 of Fig. l; Fig'. 5, a transverse section of one half of a carshowing a slightly modified form of truck and side bearing support; andFig. 6. a side view of the form of tru-ck shown in Fig. 5.

According to the principal feature of our improvement the car isprovided with a substantially continuous low level floor, 10, lo catedwithin a single stepping distance above the street surface or top ofrail, as clearly shown in Figs. l, 2, and 4 of the drawings, andextending throughout the seating space and over the middle portion ofthe trucks at the ends of the car. If preferred, the floor may rise upona very slight incline toward the ends of the car, in order to moreeasily clear the axles of some of the truck wheels, but such rise is sogradual as to be scarcely noticeable to a passenger walking from thecenter to the end seats of the car, and the floor may be said to besubstantially continuous as a low level floor, the important featurebeing that a person may easily mount from the street surface to thefloor of the car with a single step, and easilyT walk at substantiallythe same level to reach any or all seats in the car without climbing anysteps.

Various forms of car trucks andv Hoor frame work construction may bedesigned to carry out the main object of our improvement, and while wehave shown one particular design of car for this purpose, it 1sunderstood that our invention is not limited to such specificconstruction.

As shown in the drawings, we have illustrated our invention as appliedin connection with a car having a center door, 13, and a pivoted motorvtruck of the so-called maximum traction type at each end of the car. Thelow level floor, 10, extends toward the end of the car over the axle ofthe smaller wheels, 14, and over the center pivot of the truck, and theseats areI arranged to provide clearance for the swiveling movement ofthe truck in passing around curves in the track. For this purpose, across seat,-17, is located at the end of the seating space of the carover the axle of the large truck wheels, 15, and said seat may beextended at 18, around on the two s1des of the car to two transverseseats, 19, located over the small wheels, 14, so as to providesufficient space beneath said seats in which said wheels may turn freelyin the swiveling movement without interfering with the low level floorand frame work, as fully shown in Fig. 3. i

' For supporting the floor,y 10, the car body may be constructed withside sills, l1, located at the level of the floor throughout the bodyportion of the car, and bent upward over the trucks and around the endof the car as shown, the floor beams, 12,-for carrying the oor beingsupported on the side sills. The frame work is preferably formed ofsteel or other metal, although any suitable material may be employed.

In order to provide for the low level door between the seats toward theends of the car and over the axles and center plates of the trucks, thebody bolster, 20, may be attached at its ends to the side sills, 11, andbent downward beneath the door at its middle portion as shown moreclearly in Fig. 4. This body bolster is so shaped and located as not tointerfere with the swivelin movement of the truck, and is connectedAwith the longitudinal bars, 26, which carry the plate, 29, supported onthe center plates, 30, having pivot pin, 31, the bars, 26, being thenbent upward and attached to the car sills at the end of 'the car, asshown in Figs. 2 and 3.

Accordin to the construction of truck shown in Figs. 1 to 4, which is ofthe center bearing type, the transverse transoms, 21, are bolted to theside frames, 16, and may be bent down or depressed at the middle portionto pass beneath the longitudinal bars, 26. The center plates, 3G, restupon the truck bolster, 22', which is preferably of an inverted U shapemetal section located between the transoms, :21, and supported lin t-urnupon the springs, 24, which are sus- Losanna pended from the transoms bymeans of hangers, 28, and block, 25. A chating plate,

33, may be mounted on the truck bolster, and

provided with depending anges extending down between the transoms andthe sides of the bolster in which space the hangers are located.

For the purpose of supporting or steadying the car body at its sides,the truck bolster, 22, may be extended through an opening in the sideframes, 16, and have its ends bent upward and adapted to carry a roller,28, on which bears the curved bar, 27, carried by the frame work of thecar body., .As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, a brace, 32, extends between theside sills, 11, and the body bolster, 20, and the curved bar, 27 issupported upon these members.y By means of this construction, the partsof the truck and frame work are located at a low elevation, whichpermits the extension of the low level floor over the trucks to the endseats, while at the y same timel providing ample clearance for theswiveling movement of the truck in passing around curves. The side frameof the truck has an extension, 16a, for supporting the electric motor,34, at the end of the car for driving the axle of the larger wheels, 15,in the usual way.

The motormans cab may be located at the extreme end of the car beyondthe end seat,

.17, and its floor, 35, is at a higher elevation than the low levelHoor, 10, in lorder to clear the'motor and large wheels of the truck. lfdesired, the cab may be entirely separated from the'main seating portionof the car by means of a partition at the back of the end seat, 17, andit may also be provided with a .ventilaton 36, extending above the roofof the main body of the car. ""flhroughout the main portion of the car,between the transverse seats, 19, and the center door, transverse seats,37, may be employed or any `other suitable or preferred seatingarrangement may be used. At the centerside doors, the barriers, 38, maybe located in order to facilitate the loading and unloading ofpassengers, and drop seats, 39, are provided which may be raised uponthe side where the door is in use, and lowered upon the side where thedoor remains closed. These seats, 39, may be mounted on short barriers,40, forming one side of an aisle leading to the door, when the dropseats are raised.

lt is important that the seating capacity of the car should not bematerially reduced from that of stand-ard design of cars ofcorresponding lengths, as heretofore used, and this desired result isobtained with our improved seating arrangement, whereby the low levelfloor may extend to the end seat, and the space beneath the seatsfurnish the necessary clearance for the swiveling movement of the truckwheels.

Figs. 5 and show a. slightly modied :ico

form of truck of the so-called side bearing type, in which the truckbolster is eliminated and the side frames, 16, are provided withbrackets, 4l, carrying springs, 42, for supporting the side bearingbloc-ks, 43, and rollers, 44, on which rest the curved bearing bars, 27,of the car body. In this form of construction the truck transom 21, andthe center plate connections may be made much lighter as the mainportion of the weight of the car is c-arried at the side bearings.

It will be evident that it the sides of the car' are made so as to beremovable, it may be converted into an open type of car, inD

which case transverse seats may be placed throughout the intermediateportion, and passengers would then be able to step into the car at anyot' these seats by a single step from the street level. serted betweenthe end of the seating space and the motorman`s cab, as shown, it willbe apparent that the same may be provided with Windows which may be`lowered to make a semi-convertible car` and a door for giving access tothe cab may be also located in the partition, if desired. but in eithercase, an independent outside door at the frontl or side of theinotormans cab should be provided, as shown in the drawings. The spacewithin the cab may also be utilized for placing-the control apparatus,motor compressors and other accessories, thereby economizing space.

Having now described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A street car having a pivoted truck at each end for double railtracks, a low level floor within a sin le stepping distance of thestreet and exten ing over the trucks, and car seats having clearancespace beneath the same`for the swiveling movement of the truck wheels.

2. A street car having pivoted motor -trucks at its ends for double railtracks, a

low level floor Within a single stepping distance of the street andextending over the trucks, center side doors, and carseats having spacebeneath same for the swiveling movement of the truck wheels. A

3. A street car havingwpivoted. motor trucks at its ends for double railtracks, a substantially continuous low level floor within a singlestepping distance of the street level and extending over the centerpivot of said trucks, and car seats having clearance space beneath thesame for the swiveling movement ot' the truck wheels.

4. A street car having pivoted motor trucks at its ends for double railtracks, a substantially continuous low level fioor within a singlestepping distance of the street level and extending over said trucks,and transverse car seats near the end ot' the car with clearance spacebeneath said seats It' a partition is in? VAfor the swiveling movementof the truck 'vided with a depressed portion passing beneath said floor,of a pivoted truck having a depressed transom.

6. In a street car, the combination with a car body having asubstantially continuous low level iioor within a single-steppingdistance of the street and extending over the middle portion of thetrucks, of seats having clearance space beneath the same, a, bodybolster provided with a depressed portion passing beneath said floor,and a pivoted truck with wheels extending into said clearance spacebeneath the car seats.

7 In a street car, the combination with a pivoted truck having atransverse member carrying a center plate, of a car body having asubstantially continuons low level floor within a single steppingdistance ot the street and extending over the middle por- `tion ot' thetruck, a body bolster having a depressed portion passing beneath the cartioor, and longitudinal bars connected to the body bolster and extendingover the transverse member of the truck.

8. In a street car, `the combination with a pivoted truck having sideframes, transom. and .i bolster extending beyond the side trames at itsends to form side bearings for the` car body, of a car body having asubstantially continuous low level floor within a single steppingdistance of the street and extending over the truck, and a body bolsterhaving a depressed portion passing beneath the low level floor.

9. In a street car, the combination with a pivoted truck havin@r sideframes, a depressed transom, and a'spring supported truck bolster, of acar body having a substantially continuous low level floor within asingle stepping distance of the street Yand extending over the middleportion of the truck, a body bolster having a depressed portion passingbeneath the low level fioor, and car seats having space beneath the samefor the swiveling movement of the truck wheels.

10. 'In .a street car for double rail tracks the combination with aswiveled track having wheels and an axle, a substantially continiiouslow level iioor within a single stepping distance of the street andextending over said axles, car seats having a clearance space beneaththem to accommodate the truck wheels during the swiveling movement ofthe truck, and a inotormans cab with a fioor at a higher level at theend of the car.

11. In a street car for double rail tracks, the-combination of aswiveled motor truck at the end of the car, a substantially continuouslowlevel oor Within a single stepping distance of the street andextending over said truck, car seats having a clearance spa-ce beneaththem to accommodate the motormans eab Witha floor at a higher` levellextending Vrover'tlie motor of the truck at the end of the car.

13. A street car having pivoted motor trucks at' its ends, asubstantially. continuous low level floor Within a single steppingdistance of the street and extending over the middle portion of thetrucks, side` sills extending at a high level over the trucks anddepressed to the low level Hoor between the trucks; and a body bolsterconnected at its ends to the high level portion of the side I sills.over the truck, and depressed at its middle portion to pass beneath thelow level Hoor.

14. A street car having pivoted motor trucks at its ends, asubstantially continuous low level floor Within a single steppingdistance of the street and extending overthe middle portion of thetrucks, side sills eX- tending at a"hgh level overthe trucks at the endof the car and depressedto the low level floor between the trucks, and amotormans cab with its floor at the high level of the side sills at theend of the car.

15. A car truck, a transversely extending car body bolster supported atits ends by the truck, said bolster being depressed intermediate itsends to a single step distance from the ground, the car floor beingcarried by the depressed portion of the bolster.

"16. A car having a floor, a supporting truck therefor, said car andtruck having transversely extending members depressed intermediatetheirI ends, the car Hoor being carried by the depressed portion of thecar member.

,17. A car having a floor, a supporting` truck therefor, said car andtruck having svvivelly connected transversely extending membersdepressed intermediate their ends,l the car floor being carried by thedepressed portion ofthe car member.

In testimony whereof We have hereunto set our hands.

FRANK HEDLEY. JAMES S. DOYLE.

Witnesses:

J. C. NoRRrs, C. V. SMITH.

